Importance of Early Childhood Education
Discuss about the Early Childhood Education and Care.
Early childhood education plays a fundamental role in the development of children. It is one of the key roles played by parents with an aim of developing an all-around person. The growth of a human being depends on many factors right from the time they are born to when they are transiting to adulthood. This critical role of nurturing children begins at early stages and continues through. It includes early education offered in institutions and that offered by parents. However, children are sometimes faced with many challenges that need to be resolved. Since they are young people, sometimes adults may violate their rights. This calls for their protection hence the enactment of children rights. These children need love and care so that they grow up responsible individuals. In every country, there are policies and laws that are legislated to protect the well-being of children and to give a guideline on how to deal with issues of challenges when they arise (Mohr, 2016). As have been shown in this text, children are very critical and vulnerable to many challenges from domestic violence to molestation by adults. It is a fundamental requirement to properly institute appropriate policies and legislation that will go a long way in ensuring the children rights are protected and they grow in an atmosphere in which they do not feel threatened.
Fairness and equitability are very important practices for children. To be fair is to handle a child with utmost love while trying to consider the rights of the child (Pence, 2011). When dealing with a child, one thing we need to understand is that this is a child, and their cognitive development is not complete, therefore, certain things should be put into consideration before making a judgment. According to the principle, all early childhood needed to be registered and licenses are given under the education act of 2008. Therefore, it was necessary that those responsible for offering the early childhood meet the set criteria required for registration. These services were offered by home-based organizations and the curriculum provided. According to Te Wariki, all curriculums for early childhood is made up of English and te reo Maori versions that give versions of the principles of early childhood education. All home-based services are required to meet the standards set in the principles for early childhood (Peers, 2011). According to Te Wariki, the early childhood curriculum gives children the power to learn and grow. More specifically, empowerment enables children and their families to grow independently and be accessible to resources that will enable them to grow their own lives. There are four principles of early childhood according to Te Wariki, for example, holistic development, empowerment, family and community, and relationships.
Principles of Early Childhood Education
Holistic development is one of the fundamental requirements of any curriculum development. Besides empowerment, holistic development should also be part of a child’s fundamental rights. Children are expected to grow up respectful people.
Any community that a child is born, whether it is a family or a childhood setting away from the home, gives opportunities for new learning to be realized; for children to discover new ways of inventing things, establishing different ways of doing things, and encounter different points of view (Childhood Education Centre Activities, 2010). Different children have varied skills and experiences that they would require to tackle different challenges that they meet in their day-to-day life.
When we talk of children, we refer to individuals with varied physical abilities, psychological abilities, social, etc. It is important to ensure that when dealing with children, we put into consideration all the spheres that every child would be found to ensure that there is inclusivity (Mwaura & Marfo, 2011). In our families, there are children with disabilities or physical challenges that need specialized attention from their parents, education stakeholders, educationists among other interested parties. With every child abilities and skills in mind, the environment can be set to accommodate varied characteristics (Tran, Luchters, & Fisher, 2016). Social setup is also another factor that predicts the behaviors of children, therefore, when coming up with policies and education curriculum for early childhood development, all factors should be weighed to ensure that the curriculum or policies are inclusive and touches all the spheres of early childhood development.
According to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, every child has an equal right to education and social well-being. The same act is found in Human Rights policies. It is, therefore, important to take a keen look at what will enable every child to compete favorably with his or her peers (Reyes, 2006). Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child explains further that a child’s basic fundamental rights are enshrined in our societal values, cultural values, and environmental factors (Baker, 2017). The society acts as a key influencer of the behavior of the child; a morally upright society will shape its children in the right direction. Besides, the environment does also affect the behavior of children especially as they grow. Additionally, chapter 19 of the convention sets aside certain things that will foster a better relationship with children. Children are gifts from God and need to be cared for by everyone despite their background (Belsky, 2013). This is the reason the United Nations and nations have come up with regulations and laws to protect their lives. The laws are applicable to everyone including their parents. Let us, therefore, consider all children as equal despite their social background, cultural setup, and environmental difference.
Inclusivity in Education
Holistic development is one of the fundamental requirements of any curriculum development. Besides empowerment, holistic development should also be part of a child’s fundamental rights (Kirkland, 2013). Children are expected to grow up respectful people. Any community that a child is born, whether it is a family or a childhood setting away from the home, gives opportunities for new learning to be realized; for children to discover new ways of inventing things, establishing different ways of doing things, and encounter different points of view. Different children have varied skills and experiences that they would require to tackle different challenges.
Implementation of the early childhood code of ethics is a compulsory process that the stakeholders should observe and make it a success (Belsky, 2014). According to United Nations Convention on the Rights of a child, some key values can directly be derived from the side of children. They include empowerment and holistic development. Therefore, to effectively implement the early childhood code of ethics for New Zealand, the parents and stakeholders should focus on empowering all children equally and giving attention to all the children in the country despite their cultural setup, social setup, and the environment they are hailing from. Holistic development is again a critical developmental stage, which is quite fundamental in the life of children (Alderson and Morrow, 2011). They needed to be holistic in their thinking and behavior as they grow from being children to when they become adults. Adults working with children are expected to have a clear knowledge of Maori definition of health and well-being of children and at the same time understand the concepts of what they mean in actual practice. The parents are also expected to have the right attitudes to enable them to ensure that their children grow up very holistic, empowered, and upright individuals who can fit into the dynamic world (Peers, 2011). This critical role of nurturing children begins at early stages and continues through their life cycle. Parents, therefore, play a critical role in nurturing and helping their children to develop physically, psychologically, socially, and culturally. It includes early education offered in institutions and that offered by parents. However, children are sometimes faced with many challenges that need to be resolved. Since they are young people, sometimes their rights may be violated by adults. This calls for their protection hence the enactment of children rights. These children need love and care so that they grow up responsible individuals. The caregivers are also expected to play the roles that parents do. In cases where the parent(s) is missing, the caregiver is expected to show love to the child and give direction just like the biological parent would do.
Conclusion
Early childhood education and care are an important area of concern for many stakeholders. Governments have tremendously invested their resources in this sector; just to mention some of them include enacting policies that are intended to empower children and protect them from all manner of intimidation and harassment. Apart from United Nations, Human rights, and Children rights organizations, nations have come up with other means of ensuring that the rights of children are not violated in any way and those found doing it are dealt with according to the law. They have also developed early childhood education centers provided with an appropriate curriculum to enable a complete learning process. This curriculum takes care of all the children whether normally upright or challenged in one way or another.
References
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